How has everyday photography changed?
Social photography refers to the socializing aspects of photography which include the cameras themselves, the activity (situation or occasion), and the people involved in the photography. Below will be brief explanations regarding the process of capturing a photo in three different time periods and how their limitations reflect in the content of the picture. Then the activity, which is the event being captured in the photo (content), as well as the people who are needed to take a photo.
When cameras were invented there were two popular types of photos, the Daguerre-type and the Calo-type photo. The Daguerre-type used a method in which high quality images could be produced in contrast to the Calo-type, even though Calo-type photos were of lower quality they could be duplicated. To take Daguerre-type photos one would have to go to a professional photographer, then while the image is being captured the person or people would have to remain still. Regarding the complexity of capturing a photo and the time to take a photo we could assume that it would be a planned occasion, one where people make sure there is meaning behind the photos. This assumption is based on two conjectures resources and time. Resources refer to the alternative of taking a painting which was expensive and only affordable to the upper-class, which leaves us with taking a picture. Then there is the time needed to capture a photo that usually required a minute of exposure time. With photos being one of the alternatives to oil paintings and the time needed we could assume that the types of photos taken in the past are similar to the ones when people of modern times go to photographers. Serious pictures such as bride and groom photos, family portraits, or Wanhat pictures. Would people nowadays go to a photographer to take pictures of their food? Or would they go to a photographer for a picture that is meant to last?
Moving on, we have the Kodak brownie released in the year 1900 where it introduced snapshots to consumers. The brownie was a black cardboard box camera that with film, could take multiple pictures/snapshots. This was unheard of since, previously the responsibility and authority to take a picture rested within a photographer but now, Kodak produced a camera which simplified the process of capturing photos for everyday people. This was due to the reason that the photo developing part was handled by Kodak, so the only tasks people had to do were fill the camera with film, point and shoot. The exposure time for the pictures was no longer a minute or more but only moments and this made the task of taking many pictures quickly a feasible action. It was easy for anyone to take pictures of anything they wanted. Trips to the beach, pets, and other events could be captured unlike in the times of the Daguerre-type era.
Ultimately, we are led to photography today. Taking photos today is so easy that young kids are able to do so. Cameras are available nearly everywhere and most pictures now are in the digital format. This leads to more pictures being taken, the daily amount of pictures uploaded are 95 million in Instagram, 300 million in facebook, and 3 billion snaps/pictures in Snapchat (https://dustinstout.com/social-media-statistics). The value of a photograph has on average decreased since the resources needed to take a photo have drastically gone down. There are still beautiful moments such a family portrait posing together or graduation ceremonies still have their pictures taken. These types of sentimental pictures were taken in the past as well but there are definitely more unnecessary photos now than ever. Almost every action or event is being photographed: breakfast, going to exercise, biking, walking, sitting, in the car, in the toilet, on the toilet and many more. These are just a few examples and while it is true that important events such as newly-wed couples having their picture taken occur, new social aspects of photography have become less serious than in the past. For example taking a photo to display social status is still common, but there are newer aspects such as purely socializing for example snapchat. In snapchat users take pictures to communicate with others and these may include taking a picture of breakfast, or taking a picture of themselves to say good morning to others. These I believe are less serious than the social aspects of the past.
